Newly-elected Seventh-day Adventist Church leader reflects on challenges and faith's healthy living
Erton Köhler, a Brazil-born pastor known for his innovative approach to evangelism, is the newly elected president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church General Conference — and the first to hail from South America.
Köhler will serve as the spiritual and administrative leader for the global movement, which claims 23 million members in more than 200 countries. He was voted into the position during a recent gathering of the General Conference, the denomination's top governing body, in St. Louis.
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CTV News
18 hours ago
- CTV News
Brazil records 65 per cent drop in Amazon area burned by fire
A fire burns along the road to Jacunda National Forest, near the city of Porto Velho in the Vila Nova Samuel region which is part of Brazil's Amazon, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) The area of Amazon rainforest lost to fires in Brazil in July fell 65 per cent compared to a year ago, the MapBiomas monitoring platform said Wednesday, boosting the government as it prepares to host the UN climate change conference. Satellite images showed that 143,000 hectares (353,360 acres) of the world's biggest tropical forest were razed by fires last month, down dramatically from the same month last year, when a historic drought whipped up record numbers of fires. The figure -- the smallest since MapBiomas began monthly satellite mapping of fire damage in 2019 -- comes three months before President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosts the COP30 UN conference in the Amazon city of Belem. Across Brazil, 748,000 hectares of land were consumed by fire in July, down 40 percent on last year. Between January and July, a total of 2.45 million hectares burned across Brazil, down 59 per cent over the same period in 2024. The Cerrado, a vast region of tropical savannah in central Brazil, suffered the worst destruction in July, with 571,000 hectares going up in flames, down 16 percent in a year. Felipe Martenexen, a researcher at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, attributed the improvements to a 'more intense and sustained rainy season' this year. He added that the environmental and economic damage wrought by the 2024 fires and increased surveillance by the authorities of land clearance may also have 'led farmers and residents to be more careful.' While drought abetted the spread of fires last year, many of the blazes were started illegally by people clearing land for agriculture. Lula has pledged to end Amazon deforestation by 2030.
CTV News
24-07-2025
- CTV News
Proof of life: tracking elusive Amazon group to save their land
Forest lines the Combu creek, on Combu Island on the banks of the Guama River, near the city of Belem, Para state, Brazil, Aug. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) A ceramic pot and the shell of a turtle, once hunted for its meat, are the most recent traces of an Indigenous community thought to live deep in the north Brazilian Amazon. Archaeological finds like these keep turning up, and date back to at least 2009, with members of a neighbouring clan claiming to have caught glimpses of individuals who live in the Ituna/Itata region in Brazil's northern Para state. For now, the nameless, elusive people -- perhaps belonging to more than one group -- remain among dozens of so-called 'uncontacted' communities believed to roam the world's biggest rainforest. 'My sister-in-law told me: 'Over there! Over there!' And it was a little boy staring at me from up close,' recounted Takamyi Asurini, an elder in Ita'aka -- an Indigenous village of about 300, whose accounts of close encounters have fed theories of the existence of uncontacted people in Ituna/Itata. Asurini showed AFP a scar on his ribs he said was the result of being shot with an arrow by an unknown person in the jungle. Such testimonies, and the objects found, are not considered proof of the existence of people in Ituna/Itata. But it is enough for the region to enjoy a provisional protected status meant to prevent invasions by miners, loggers and ranchers -- preserving both the forest and the people thought to live there. The area covers tens of thousands of hectares and is similar in size to Sao Paolo -- the biggest city in Latin America. It became one of the most overrun Indigenous territories in Brazil under former president Jair Bolsonaro, a backer of agro-industry on whose watch Amazon deforestation surged. Now, lobby groups want the Ituna/Itata region's protection to be made permanent, which would mean stricter land use rules and enforcement. 'Historical neglect' For this to happen, the government's National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai) would have to send expeditions to look for undeniable proof of the group's existence. Part of the challenge is the dense Amazon jungle is home to rich, varied ecosystems that support migratory agriculture for Indigenous peoples, who may travel to hunt, fish and gather food seasonally. Under law, any searchers cannot make contact with them -- potentially putting them at risk of diseases they have no immunity to -- but are to look instead for footprints of their life in the forest. Brazil recognizes 114 'uncontacted' Indigenous groups who live with no or minimal interaction with others. About a quarter are 'confirmed,' while for the rest -- like in Ituna/Itata -- there is 'strong evidence' that they exist. For Luiz Fernandes, a member of umbrella group Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), there has been 'historial neglect' of the issue by the state, which he says 'recognizes the possibility of the existence of these peoples but does not guarantee effective measures to protect the territory.' Added Mita Xipaya, an Indigenous activist: 'the state needs qualified records' to prove that an area hosts uncontacted people, 'but for us it is different: we perceive them in nature, in the sounds we hear, their presences, sometimes their smells.' 'Taking care of the forest' The Brazilian Amazon has lost nearly a third of its native vegetation since records began in 1988, according to environmental NGO Instituto Socioambiental -- except in Indigenous territories where the figure is less than two percent. From 2019 to 2022, the Bolsonaro government suspended the provisional protection measures decreed for Ituna/Itata, prompting an invasion by land grabbers, turning it into the most deforested Indigenous area in Brazil. Though the protection was reinstated under his leftist successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the consequences persist, and miles-wide patches of devastated soil intersperse areas of green rainforest, AFP observed during a recent flyover. Brazil will in November host the COP30 UN climate conference in the Amazonian city of Belem under Lula, who has sought to position himself as a leader in forest preservation and the fight against global warming. 'It's not just about taking care of the forest but also of the people who inhabit it, because it's through them that the forest remains standing,' COIAB coordinator Toya Manchineri told AFP. By Carlos Fabal with Facundo Fernandez Barrio in Sao Paulo, AFP
Calgary Herald
21-07-2025
- Calgary Herald
Field Safe eases worries about working alone in remote areas
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At left, Danny Hay, CEO of Field Safe Solutions, and Doug Junor, vice-president of Innovation for the Calgary-based company. Supplied by Field Safe Photo by Courtesy, Field Safe Solutions / Postmedia Network Wrist watches today tell a lot more than the time of day. Newer versions — besides responding to the fad of counting your footsteps — can tell if you fall, when you fall, how far you fall and what increase you have in your heart rate. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors You might be fully aware, but if you are alone the information is of no use unless someone else is made aware of the situation. Particularly if you are a lone worker with nobody else near you. That's where Field Safe Solutions hits the mark, with its easy-to-use safety platform that connects workers and employers with all imperative data. Your weekday lunchtime roundup of curated links, news highlights, analysis and features. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again Field Safe is a Calgary-born company that is making great strides in lone worker safety, journey management and compliance calendar streamlining. It was launched in 2018 after discussions with oil and gas companies about concerns regarding the safety of workers in the field, in the event they have a sudden health problem or an accident. How would the company know of their dilemma and be able to help? Technical people at Field Safe listened to the concerns of management, but more importantly spent time in the field talking with workers on the front lines who were worried about how they would fare if a dangerous situation occurred while they were out of touch with fellow workers and others who could be of assistance. A device to handle the needs was designed and introduced in 2019 and, despite being up against stiff competition, it earned Field Safe a contract from Flour Canada to provide devices for workers at the massive LNG Canada construction site at Kitimat, B.C. Whatever requests Flour had, Field Safe's response was 'we can do it.' And they performed well, resulting in a number of new clients seeking the comfort of relying on them for their own employees' safety. It's interesting to note that of its next four customers, three joined the Field Safe board. The company is run today by CEO Danny Hay, who joined Field Safe six years ago as its CFO. Hay is a chartered accountant, graduating with a bachelor of commerce from Haskayne School of Business, who held previous positions that included officer and director of TSX and TSX-v listed companies, most recently as CFO of an Alberta alternative energy company. He is a board member of groHERE, a vertical farming company growing superior tasting strawberries in a controlled environment, and has been a board member of Calgary Foothills Soccer Club for more than a decade. This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Workers and their families must be thankful of the choice their employers have made in selecting Field Safe, knowing they are never truly alone. And it is a comfort for the office to be certain of where they are, and can streamline event recording, notifications, task assignments and progress visibility for accountability. Most important, according to Field Safe vice-president of innovation Doug Junor, is that every need-to-know is found simply and with ease on a cellphone after uploading the cloud-based software, designed to fulfil the specific needs of each customer. Junor says visiting with field workers and attending company safety meetings helped design the software to respond to specific needs, many for simplicity. Workers wanted big type, scrolling instead of tapping, and colour coding of green, yellow and red that made it easy to respond with — and say goodbye to clipboard, pen and paper, big white binders and call-in services. Calls for help are immediately reported to the closest fellow workers in the area, and on up the list as far as notifying STARS. Field Safe is attracting customers from a wide range of industries that have lone worker employees — such as utilities, forestry, land and environmental services, and municipal governments. Junor says his reward is hearing a wife say, 'You solved my biggest fear — if he didn't come home and I didn't know where he was.' Drive of Champions is a free summer event being held at Spruce Meadows on Aug. 9. Luxury, classic and unique vehicles take centre stage, and there is also a dazzling Show & Shine and a Champions Grill and Gather reception. A fun afternoon. David Parker appears regularly in the Herald. Read his columns online at He can be reached at 403-830-4622.
